Old Yeller Guide Service's Blog

What would Benjamin Buford Blue think of this???

oldyellerguideservice — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 21:35:58 +0000

Foot-long shrimp evoke caution.

http://www.starnewsonline.com/article/20111116/articles/111119746

“we’re gonna need a bigger boat” – rare visitor spotted of NC waters

oldyellerguideservice — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 21:09:23 +0000

WRIGHTSVILLE BEACH, N.C. — A group of fishermen from Boston spotted an 18-foot-long great white shark off the coast of North Carolina, Wilmington NBC affiliate WECT reported.

The men were 25 miles southeast of Wrightsville Beach when they noticed that the fish stopped biting. They then saw two fins circling their boat.

“I think it’s two dolphins or something — two dolphins far apart. Those two dolphins turn out to be one giant shark,” Matt Garrett told the station.

Garrett pulled out his cellphone and captured the shark on video. He said he knew the shark was 18 feet long because it was nearly as long as the 20-foot boat.

North Carolina Aquarium spokesman Paul Barrington said it’s rare to see great whites off the North Carolina coast, but sightings have been reported in the past.

“They did the right thing. They didn’t harass it. They took some great video of it. They are very fortunate. That’s something they will never forget,” Barrington said.

Barrington told the station that the shark was likely curious about the boat and the fishing activity.

The shark swam away after about 20 minutes.

November 27 fishing report

oldyellerguideservice — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 14:26:45 +0000

Hello December! Wanted to give you all a quick report from the Crystal Coast. The trout are here, and in big numbers. While the numbers are big, the bigger sized fish are a little rarer. Still, there are keeper sized trout to be found and daily limits are feasible putting your time in and moving around to different inshore spots. We caught fish upwards of 4# in the last week or so on light tackle and the fly. The water is still warm for this time of year so I think the trout are still relatively dispersed and not bunched tightly into schools yet. Here’s one of the nicer grade of 3#-4# fish:

Nearshore, there are still a few scattered false albacore around, but generally the disappointing fall season for them has continued. Calm days along the beaches also provide good opportunities to look for schools of red drum in the suds.

Offshore, the wahoo bite has been hot when boats can get offshore in the periods of good weather between the passing frontal systems moving through the area.

I will be taking a bit of a hiatus from fishing/reports over the coming weeks to get settled into a new home and for a wedding – my own! Stay tuned to OYGS for future reports.

November 12 2011 offshore report

oldyellerguideservice — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 18:16:26 +0000

Greetings everyone, fished offshore this past weekend along with most of the fleet fishing the Tackle Box King Mackerel tournament. There were approximately 50 boats in what turned out to be a $10K prize event won by none other than the Jimmy Mack fishing team. There were not many kings caught, but sharks, amberjack, wahoo, sailfish, and even a 200# bluefin tuna came to play with the contestants. Most everyone, including us, fished with live blues due to the scarcity of menhaden available. We managed one big AJ, lost a wahoo, and had a sail in the baits for a bit all while live baiting a 75* temperature break east of Cape Lookout.

Inshore, most all of the action is revolving around speckled trout fishing. There are lots of little ones to be caught in a lot of different places, but sometimes it can be difficult to find many keepers above 14″. Be prepared for big crowds at the popular fishing locations on nice weather days.

More reports to follow soon!

23 October 2011fishing report

oldyellerguideservice — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 12:46:26 +0000

Greetings again from Atlantic Beach, here’s the current fishing report from this week. The false albacore bite really slowed down last week, I don’t know what sparked the lull in the action but the water temps are still hovering around 70*. We did have bluebird skies and very high pressure last weekend which also likely played a role in keeping the fish down and making them hard to find. Still, with the water temps as warm as they are, there should be another good 3 weeks or so to pray to St. Albert for an improved bite this fall.

However, there are other things out there worth pursuing. Nearshore red drum fishing in deep water has been off the charts when fishing structure, schooled fish, or hard bottoms. A good set of GPS numbers and really good sonar make all the difference in the world in finding over slot sized “old drum”. Some nice flounder are also often mixed in as a keeper by catch.

Spot fishing has also been inconsistent, but there are some schools around if you follow the fleet and put in your time soaking baits on the bottom with spec rigs. Speaking of specks, the recent rains and subsequent runoff and played havoc with marsh fishing in the shallows for reds as well as the oyster harvests. Some of our local river oyster beds have been closed due to water quality so hopefully when that clears up the fishing will get better.

A few pics from this past Saturday. I had a very accomplished light tackle jigging fisherwoman aboard who cleaned up!

Mid October 2011 fishing report

oldyellerguideservice — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 17:25:03 +0000

Hello folks from Atlantic Beach. It’s been a long time since I have been able to post a current fishing report but with the good fishing of the fall upon us I thought it was time!

Our good friends the false albacore are finally back in good numbers for this season. There had been some sporadic pods and sightings earlier, but now with the cooling water temps and more NE winds the bait balls are here and the fish are chewing. It should only get better until early November from here on out as well.

There are also some chopper blues in big numbers which fight very hard on light tackle or the fly as well as some big, big “old drum” redfish in deeper waters just off the beaches. Some of these fish are bruisers in the 40#-50# range and put up epic fights on light tackle jigging rods or sinking fly lines.

As for the more relaxing inshore fishing, grey trout, sea mullet, and spots are starting to show themselves in more numbers for the bait fishermen. Good speckled trout fishing is also just starting up in the marshes and should also get better as the weather cools down going into November.

Late May+early June fishing report

oldyellerguideservice — Fri, 10 Jun 2011 15:28:10 +0000

I wanted to take some time (finally) to post some recent fishing reports since It’s been a few weeks since last update. Fishing continues to be good and there is a lot of variety as the spring patterns departs and the heat of summer comes on strong. Inshore, the focus has been on sight fishing bait schools along the beaches for cobia, chopper blues, and big spanish. Largest cobia this season was an esitmated 80# fish that broke a rod after an 1:30 minute and a dozen trips boatside.

Flounder fishing has been good as the water warms up and flounder continue moving closer to shore from their wintering grounds offshore. Drum fishing also continues to be good in the marshes, particularly on the flood tides and fish can be taken sight fishing tailers or by targeting roaming schools in the shallows.

Offshore the mahi have moved in and are thick with many fish being nice gaffer sized fish. Some leftover spring wahoo are still around and can be found trolling the same weedlines and offshore structure that the mahi frequent. Watch out because the standard 80# mono rigs best suited for mahi don’t stand a chance for landing the sharp toothed wahoo.

cobia with a tail the size of a broom

keeper flounder

lots of gaffer mahi right now

meet the gaff mr. mahi

13-14 May – Drum and flounder fishing getting hot, Cobia still arriving

oldyellerguideservice — Mon, 16 May 2011 11:58:02 +0000

This past weekend saw a monster afternoon high tide cycle which generally equates to great sight fishing for tailing red drum in the marshes. Friday afternoon did not disappoint as numerous fish were sighted in some spots where they cannot typically forage but a few times of the year due to flood tide. Seeing redfish standing on the heads and wagging their tail at you can get the adrenaline really flowing but calming yourself down to make the right cast makes all the difference in the world in less than 1’ of water.

Drum fishing in the marshes should keep getting better and better as the summer heats up, until the gill netters start setting up shop in the creeks that is…

Nearhsore, flounder are moving nearby structure in greater numbers as the waters continue to warm up. These groups of fish are staging and feeding in these locations before moving into the sounds later into early summer. Generally bunched in tight groups, we found them laying on top of each other in certain drifts and fish up to 5# were eagerly taking artificial.

Numbers of cobia are finally on the rise this past week as well. Those numbers are directly related to the sudden prevalence of menhaden bait balls along the beaches. Finding an undisturbed pod all to yourself makes a big difference to getting fish under or around these tight schools. Half a dozen boats trying to fish one school and all pitching jigs and/or live bait makes the fish skittish. But when you are not able to find schools of free swimming cobia, this is as good a place to prospect as any.

Stay tuned for next week’s fishing report.

May 07 – spring floundering

oldyellerguideservice — Mon, 09 May 2011 15:05:37 +0000

The spring fishing patterns are starting to fall into their somewhat predictable norms for May. This past weekend the first good catches of keeper flounder began showing up nearshore jigging artificials as the water temperatures continue to come up into the mid 60’s. It was a lot of fun to see the young guys on the boat get so excited with catching fish and being able to take home some flounder fillets to grandma for mothers day! I did not do the dawn patrol in search of the bonito this past weekend as we got a late start on Saturday and took Sunday off to be with mom on her day. We rode many, many miles searching for cobia to sight fish with no luck. There have been some very limited reports of scattered cobia being caught, but I really don’t think the main push of cobia are here yet. This weekend, the bait balls of menhaden were equally scarce as well which hampered the fishing. Once the bait becomes more prolific on the beaches, citation Spanish, spring kings, and the cobia fishing should light up. Some scattered blues and smaller spanish are starting to show up near shore as well.

Offshore, the big news this past weekend was the first push of mahi into our waters. Saturday the boats that fished offshore in the Reeling for Research Tournament did very well on them along with some nice wahoo. OYGS will be venturing to the stream the first bluebird fishing day we can get!

Stay tuned next week for more fishing reports.

April 29-30 hot inshore spring drum fishing

oldyellerguideservice — Tue, 03 May 2011 02:21:07 +0000

This past weekend illustrated a mixed bag of fishing results. Phil and his brother George from Maryland fished for two days with me this past week. We had a good inshore/nearshore combo package two days planned to look for drum in the back waters and bonito, flounder, and cobia in the ocean. Despite some gusty winds, the drum fished turned on for us after finally finding the right creeks and shorelines that held the bait. High water and spinnerbaits produced some drum that topped the slot @ 27″ and 8#.

Day two saw less than ideal fishing conditions compared to the day before. A cold front pushed through overnight bringing in strong NW and then the dreaded east wind over the course of our ocean fishing day. The bonito were not lurking in the same spots as the week before and proved to be as elusive as the cobia we had also hoped to find to sight cast to. While there have been a limited number of reports of cobia around, we spent a lot of the day searching. Blues were the only fishy thing that greeted us.

In other news, offshore there are still reports of good blackfin tuna caught in the gulf stream along with a occasonal wahoo. Dolphin have still not shown up in good numbers yet, but like the cobia, they too should be arriving any day now as well. Menhaden bait balls are also starting to show up along the beaches so that will usher in many more game fish closer to shore. However, I did sight the first menhaden factory trawler just offshore this past Sunday. I am not sure what the State of NC is going to allow in regards to fishing in State waters this year but even if they remain just offshore 3 miles into the EEZ, they will still extract a heavy toll on the menhaden and fishing will suffer.

Stay tuned for more spring fishing reports.

Phil’s 27″ drum

George with a typical puppy drum from their day